To Be a Part of Chat Groups. Or Not.

For people who prefer to spend most of their spare time within the comforts of their rooms, all the while craving the company of friends who are out there having the time of their lives, chat groups are blessings.

If, like mine, your childhood squad mostly consists of people who live abroad or in a part of town that makes meeting up equally unfeasible as the former, you'll understand the joys of staying connected with each other 24/7 through these numerous message groups on different social media platforms. Sharing the tiniest details about each other's day, starting from the minute you wake up till the time you retire to sleep at night, it seems as if nothing's changed since you were all together in person.

However, when you do have a chance of meeting up somehow, these chat boxes witness unsuccessful plans and futile suggestions thrown back and forth among yourselves as you struggle to fix a suitable time for all of you. I've been trying to do so for the last two months with absolutely no success and if you are on the process of making plans right now, hehe, good luck.

Then there are those hectic weeks when all the group members are caught up with their own lives and the activity wanes to a depressing stop but there is always the chance of reviving it once again when something grand happens or when one of you decides to be creative with your nicknames.

On the other hand, there are chat groups that you wish became inactive the day you were added to it for reasons still unknown to you and you can't leave them because you do not wish to seem impolite. 

I was once added to a group by a distant cousin of mine because he wanted to tell us how he had gotten married and would like to invite us all to his reception. I was initially amused how someone could think of no other way than through a group message on Facebook to break this news. However, the real shock came when I realised that not only had he added his friends who just couldn't hold back their awfully inappropriate jokes but also some of his family members who had no idea about his relationship prior to this. It was a terrible experience but it taught me to always check the members when I am added to a chat group and consider whether I should mute the notifications immediately or not.

Speaking of relationships, you are yet to witness the ugly sides of third-wheeling if you've not been added to a chat group by a couple whose relationship is on the rocks and you are the first person they go to for advice. Brace yourself while they throw pointless accusations at each other and then expect you to agree to them. If you do manage to talk some sense into these love birds at some point and they mend their fences somehow, you'll then find yourself in the middle of an awkward conversation as they make sappy confessions about how much they regret this fight ever happened. They do not regret it more than you do.